Summer Planning

Wow. Looking at 12 weeks of uninterrupted kiddo time, with no pool, no playground, no vacation, no play dates... That is a sobering and daunting blank stretch of calendar. My kids are already sick of staying inside, and we have relaxed our screen time rules a bit TOO far.

Time for a plan!

Step 1: Brainstorm!

I sat down and just wrote out all my summer thoughts: goals, worries, desires, questions... All of it! Some of the items I had were:

• Get grade-level workbooks
• Have kids create vision boards of things they want to work for
• Fill their time rather than limit screen time
• Where can we go? Nature hikes, bikes
• Silly holidays

Step 2: Set some Goals

I'm a terrible goal-setter.  I guess, if I have a goal, I just work toward it, I don't exactly plan it formally. Here, I took my brain-stormed list and synthesized it into a list of the things I wanted to accomplish with the kids this summer.

• Teach them to do what I don't want to
• Load dishwasher
• Put away their clothes
• Take out the garbage
• Take out recycling
• Life skills
• Read a recipe
• Make ice cream, pasta
• Physical activity
• little pool
• riding bikes
• soccer field
• nature scavenger hunt
• creeking

Step 3: Make a Schedule

Of course, everyone's schedule will be different.  I have a hard time sticking to hard and fast schedules, but if I have a looser one, I do better. My thought was to fill the time with learning in the morning, when the kids are fresh and ready, get outside for exercise, have some time for chores and THEN, finally, have screens.  

If I do the work of filling their time, they won't be staring at a screen all day long, and I also won't have the fight of "no screens until X"!

• 8 - 9 Breakfast and get ready
• 9 - 10:30 Instructional
• 10:30 - 12 Physical activity
• Lunch
• 12:30 - 2 Chores and home skills
• 2:00 - Screens
  

Step 4: Make your Lessons

The first thing I did was look at the calendar. Twelve weeks. Gosh, it seems like such a long time!  But it's 12x5 lessons a week. I came up with 5 categories for each weekday, then tried to come up with 12 ideas for each of those. Monday will be Art, Tuesday will be Science, Wednesday will be Cooking, Thursday will be Responsibilities, and Friday will be Life Skills. I wasn't perfect about getting 12 of each, but likely, I'll miss a day here or there, so it should work out.

Another way I looked at the schedule was the summer had 4 sections of 3 week blocks. After 3 weeks, I will re-evaluate how it went, maybe add more here or less there, and even give us a day off!  Three weeks isn't a long time, so doing 4 blocks of 3 weeks made it more manageable.

At this point, I feel fairly ready! Of course, I think it was General Patton who declared "no plan ever survives contact with the enemy", so it will have to be flexible once we get down to it. At least I'm no longer looking at a blank stretch of 3 months!

The Best Way to Get the Stinkies Out

As I mentioned before, I have stinky cats. They are elderly and I think they are not overly fond of the twins - who are equally stinky, if truth be told.  I have cleaned all manner of bodily fluids (yuck) over the last six years.  One thing I have learned is the BEST way to get stink out of fabrics in the washing machine.  This works on poop, puke, pee, musty smell and cigarette smoke!

A few warnings before we start:
- If something is NOT machine washable, you run the risk that it might get thoroughly destroyed.
- Do NOT use bleach. Mixing bleach and vinegar is just not a good idea. If you need to bleach it, try that first, and if the smell is still there, run it again as below with regular detergent. I wouldn't use OxiClean type products, either. (Don't mix chemicals. It can be dangerous at worst and just ineffective at best.)

Method:

• Load your washing machine as usual.
• Put in your laundry detergent of choice. See above for recommendations of what NOT to use.
• Add half a cup to a full cup of Super Washing Soda to your load.  This isn't baking soda; it is a different formula.  If you are running a small load of 1 or 2 items, you could use 1/4 cup. A "normal" load would be about 1/2 cup, and then a large load 1 cup. This goes right on top of your laundry.
• Add plain white vinegar to the rinse cycle/fabric softener area of your machine.  It is not straight into the load - you want to use it separately from the washing soda. I have a top loader, and the vinegar goes into the top of the agitator.  When I had a front loader, there was a cup area specially for fabric softener.
• Wash!
• When you take the clothes out, give them the sniff test. Run it again with more Washing Soda if it is still bad - but honestly, I have never had to run it again!

I have put something in the wash that I had to hold an arm's length from my nose and could still smell, and taken it out, stuck my face into it and taken a big whiff, and said, "gee, I can *kinda* still smell it". And that's a win.

Many places recommend mixing vinegar and baking soda to take out smell.  That just does not work.  Use them separately, and they do - for a regular stinky load, rather than a mega-stinky one - I will throw in baking soda in the wash and the vinegar in the rinse, and it will freshen towels and clothes.

Reflections of a SAHM Going Back to Work

Motherhood is no vacation.When babies are little, their care is constant, but it doesn't get easier as they grown, your problems just become different.  Our twins are in kindergarten now and we worry about homework and bullies and making sure they are getting the support they need to flourish. That alone is a lot, on top of laundry and cooking and shopping and cleaning...

The thought of going back to work is tricky.  How will we possibly balance all of this?  I worry I won't find a good fit of a job that will let me be flexible about my hours.

On the other hand, the idea of getting back to using my brain is exciting.  I do love a challenge and being creative - and while Motherhood offers a ton of challenges and ample opportunity for creativeness, I would like something with less glue and glitter!  Professional problem solving is something I really miss - putting out a fire at work so that everyone is happy in the end.

I also miss working in a team. Some of my closest friends have come from work and Motherhood cane be lonely.  Having a team to bounce ideas around with and dive into action - that sounds like bliss!  Also, sharing the load with other people, as opposed to being the go-to person ("Mom! Where my...?") sounds like HEAVEN.

The prospect of juggling work and kids is daunting, but I think the positives outweigh the difficulties, and I am actually looking forward to finding a new job!

Running for 5k

I never thought I would be a runner.  When you think "runner" you probably think of some tall, elegantly slim person out running at the crack of dawn, decked out in technical gear and water bottles.

Yeah, that ain't me.

My desire to run came after 40, when I was trying to keep up with my twins.  Kids are fast! And twins - one would run one way and the other always ran the opposite direction!  One day at the playground, I just started jogging,  It didn't kill me. So, I decided to try.

I used a Couch to 5k program through Britain's National Health Service; it was a free podcast, and I didn't want to spend any money until I figured I could really do it.  I took it at my own speed.  When I missed time due to illness or busy-ness, I went back to the previous step rather than try to push forward.  If a week's new step felt hard, I would repeat the step from the week before.  I did not stress when it took longer than 10 weeks, because it was the goal of running that was important, not running by X date.

My biggest disappointment came when I finished the program and was running 30 minutes, but was no where near 3 miles.  I think I was at 2 miles.  I'm rather short, so have short strides, but am also slow.  (Other runners would blast past me, and I would get demoralized - why can't I run faster?)

For a while, it was okay. I did my 30 minute, 2 mile ru and that was fine.  I enjoyed it!  Running was a way to enjoy being outside and have some time to myself without distraction.  The kids were sent off to preschool and I would head out to a park for a run, 2 or 3 times a week.

But not hitting 5k bothered me.

After a long while, a year of running, I finally plotted out a 5k course at the park.  The kids started kindergarten, so I had the time,  I found Pandora's "Running" station on my phone.  And I did it.  I was still very slow but had reached my distance goal!

Then, my sister - a total Disney-phile - came up with the crazy idea to do a RunDisney 5k.  So, we are doing it in April, which gives me time to work on speed.  Most Disney runs have a 15 min/mile minimum, and I can reach that.  RunDisney races are a lot of fun - Elsa makes it snow on you, Storm Troopers chase you, you take your picture with Mickey halfway - so much of an experience!

I've done quite a bit of reading to see if I can improve my speed, and came across the running term "Fartlek".  It is supposed to be a more playful way to increase your running. Am I doing it exactly right? Probably not, but in my own way. For me, fartleks are sprints.  I have a section of the park where I run that is flat and about 300 feet.  I sprint as fast as I can for those 300 feet, walk back to the start and do it again.  I am up to 6 sprints.

My current running routine is on Monday, I do a distance run, 3+ miles. Wednesday, I run 1 mile, do my "fartleks"and then run 1 more mile. On Friday, I go back to my NHS Couch to 5k, and instead of walk/run, I do "run my normal pace" and "run faster".

I must be doing something right. Not only has my time gone down a little, I'm getting "the nod" from other runners.  I will never be one of those crack of dawn, elegant creatures, but this lumbering elephant slog is enough for me!

My Weekly Planner

On the scale of busy, we are not that busy of a family.  We certainly have busy weeks, but we are still pretty quiet when I see how some other families are scheduled.  Even still, I like to keep on top of a weekly schedule so I don't forget any details.

I started with a dotted Moleskin.  This gave me a guide but also the room to draw what I wanted.  For me, I sketch out just the weekdays and put any weekend plan in the notes.  In the first column, I put the monthly calendar.  Obviously I am not nearly as fancy as many, but I don't need to be!  This is a schedule.

I add in anything going on during that week, any reminders that I need.

My next row is my Meal Planner, where I write down dinner.  Having it here helps me arrange appropriately: no corn on the cob after dental work, stick dinner in the CrockPot if the day is hectic.

On the right hand page, I write notes.  I keep anything for this week above the weekend or next week, so I know what's coming.  I log my grocery spend here, too.  When I'm running, I log my runs along the side.

The left hand page is for an Eisenhower Square.  These grids are so helpful to organize your tasks by priority! The top categories are Urgent and Not Urgent, and the side categories are Important and Not Important.  Any time you have a task that you will not do immediately, you would put it on the square.  You ask yourself 2 questions: Is it Urgent?  Is it Important?  Sometimes, I consider "time sensitive" to be under the Urgent category, even if it is in the relative future.  So if the answer to both important/urgent is yes/yes, it goes in the top left square.  If it is important but not urgent, it would go top right.  If something is not important but needs to be done soon, that would go bottom left.  Not important/not urgent goes bottom right - but why would you do anything there?  Instead, I use that square for projects that I want to get done but have no deadline, like cleaning out a closet or organizing the pantry.

In the back of my planner, I keep a number of pages for reference = a tally of groceries, emergency phone numbers and the like.  They are the things I need to track or keep reference of, but not on a daily basis.  The first page is Emergency Numbers; if my phone dies or someone else needs the kids' doctor, there it is.  Then I have a list of all our favorite meals, so I don't have to wrack my brain for dinner ideas.  After that, I keep a project list.  Owning a home, there are always projects to be done, and writing things down helps me prioritize them. On the next page is my grocery tally, so I measure my grocery bill (and groan loudly when I blow way past my budget).

I keep a page I call "Annual Tracker" which holds notes for tasks that don't come up often,  I note when I need to change the vents in my house to keep the air flow better, when I should grease the springs on my garage door, and the amount to pay for monthly cleaning.

Lastly, I draw out a year ahead.  How often do you see something that happens six months from now and then completely forget?  This gives me a place to notes future events or tasks.  I know I need to schedule the kids' doctor in November.  We figured out the perfect time to go to a holiday light show when it wasn't busy - so I noted that in there.  If someone is coming to visit or a vacation is scheduled way in advance, you've got it right there.

This isn't to say that I don't use wall calendars or an app on my phone - I totally do!  My weekly planner helps ground me to what is happening this week.  When things get hectic, I feel in control of my week and sometimes that make a big difference!

Meal Planning using Pinterest

One way I got my sanity back when the twins were toddlers was to meal plan my dinners. I could shop once or twice a week and have something on the table with a 5pm panic about "what am I going to make?"

Pinterest has been a huge help in that; at this time, I have made about 250 recipes from Pinterest, 200 of them successful.  My Pins for food are in the thousands, and I love that I can find just about any recipe there. When I browse, I Pin recipes to different boards and when I find one that I want to try right away, it goes on a "Next to Try" board.  That way, I can easily find what I want.

So, on the weekends, I set up my weekly planner and think about what to make for the week ahead. Do we have any dates or special events planned? Is someone coming over or will be absent?

On Mondays, I sing with a community chorus and need to leave directly after dinner.  So usually, I use my CrockPot on Monday, then just soak the crock until the next morning to minimize cleanup.  Here is where Pinterest helped a ton: did you ever notice that CrockPot recipes often taste the same? So many recipes use canned stuff - cream of soups being common.  I try to do "whole food" cooking without using cans of things, so looked up recipes for the CrockPot that were "whole food".  Some of my favorite recipes came from that search!

While I am not a hardcore environmentalist, I have read that by restricting your consumption of beef you can lower your carbon footprint.  To that end, I try to plan only 1 beef meal, then 1 pork/ham meal, 1 vegetarian and fill in with chicken.

In the back of my planner, I keep a running list of meals my family likes, categorized by protein or vegetarian.  I added a column to note if it is a CrockPot dish.  This speeds up my planning because I have it all right there.  If I make a new dish that is a hit, it goes on "the list".  My hubby will often say, "oh, this one goes on the list!"

No Spend Month Goals

A few times a year - sometimes it's three times, sometimes four - I try to do a "no spend month".  I admit, sometimes I'm a recreational shopper.  In the past, I was at home with infant/toddler twins, and desperately needed to get out of the house! Shopping was a way to do that.  And while I was never a "shopaholic", I did overspend sometimes.  "No spend months" helped me get over that.

My monthly grocery budget is pretty large, but the first part of "no spend" is to stick to that budget!  For that reason, don't do a "no spend" around Thanksgiving or Christmas, or any month you know you will be feeding extra people a lot of food.  Every time I go to the store, I add up my receipts and write it in my weekly planner so I keep track.  One week, I may hit a discount store like Aldi for my necessities, just to make sure I stay under budget.

The next part is to use what you've got.  I am an avid reader and read every night before bed.  This means I go through a book on my Kindle every 3-4 days.  Ten books a month can add up!  So, for no spend, I go back and re-read old books - sometimes even *gasp* printed books!  I also dig into my pantry and freezer to use up food, and into my linen closet for all the hoarded shampoo I forgot about.

Lastly, give yourself a break.  You can't foresee every occurrence.  One of my kids broke my laptop adaptor and made off with the cord - resulting in an extra $100 purchase.  Life happens.

My goals is for 4 "No Spend Months" in 2018, so we will see if I can do that!